Qingshan

Chapter 5: The Porcelain Shard

Only fifteen minutes. It was incredibly brief.

Chen Ji wasted no more words. He quickly surveyed the study, his gaze lingering on the scattered books and scrolls before rapidly flipping through the volumes on the bookshelf.

“The scrolls are all blank, and the books are all commonly available. There’s nothing hidden inside them,” Jiao Tu remarked.

Chen Ji turned and walked into the courtyard.

This was a quadrangle courtyard with two sections. He carefully observed every detail, trying to find even the slightest clue. He knew his chances of finding anything were slim. His bold claim had been a desperate gambit to buy time, a stall tactic in the face of ruthless killers.

As the minutes ticked by, Yun Yang grew impatient. “Too slow, too slow. Let’s add a game. See that paulownia tree in the courtyard? For every leaf that falls while you search, I’ll stab you with a needle.”

Just as he finished speaking, a leaf detached itself from a branch.

Yun Yang deftly caught the withered yellow leaf in mid-air and sighed, “Your luck is truly terrible.”

He approached Chen Ji and jabbed a needle into the tender gap between the youth’s thumb and forefinger.

Chen Ji’s face instantly flushed red. His body doubled from the intense pain. Despite the cold autumn weather, large beads of sweat dripped down his forehead one after another.

In his heart, he cursed Yun Yang for being a twisted pervert, but it did nothing to relieve the pain.

Yun Yang continued in a leisurely tone, “Time wasted due to pain also counts within your fifteen minutes.”

Gripping the paulownia tree for support, Chen Ji slowly straightened up and shuffled towards the kitchen. He had to find a clue before the second leaf fell!

Inside the kitchen was nothing more than a stove built from bricks and an assortment of bottles and jars containing seasonings.

The room was clean and tidy, without a single unnecessary item.

After examining all the bottles and jars, Chen Ji walked out of the kitchen, but strangely, he stood motionless just outside the doorway.

He muttered to himself, “Something feels wrong. I must have missed a detail.”

Yun Yang leaned against the kitchen doorframe, yawning and toying with a silver needle between his fingers. “You’re running out of time. It seems I’ve wasted a quarter of an hour.”

Chen Ji remained motionless, desperately trying to recall what he had overlooked.

As he pondered, another leaf fell from the paulownia tree, and Yun Yang swiftly inserted another needle, this time behind Chen Ji’s ear.

The searing pain sent Chen Ji crumpling to the ground, writhing in agony, on the verge of losing consciousness.

This time, however, he didn’t wait for Yun Yang’s prompting. He scrambled back into the kitchen, grabbed two jars filled with a fine, white, crystalline powder, and brought them outside.

Yun Yang glanced at them curiously. “Two jars of salt. What’s the problem?”

“Why would a kitchen need two jars of salt?”

Chen Ji said, taking a pinch of the white powder from one of the jars and rubbing it between his fingers.

“This isn’t salt.”

“Not salt?” Yun Yang was curious. He and Jiao Tu were masters at killing, covering up, shifting blame, and claiming credit—but when it came to finding clues, they were hopeless.

Chen Ji held out his finger to Yun Yang. “Taste it.”

Yun Yang scoffed. “Clever. What if it’s poison? I’m not tasting it.”

Jiao Tu laughed.

If not for the corpses lying around, this venomous girl’s laughter might have sounded almost pleasant.

Yun Yang’s face turned cold. “Hurry up and taste it yourself.”

Chen Ji put a pinch of the white powder in his mouth. “Very astringent upon contact, with no distinct flavor.”

He fell into deep thought. What could this be?

Chen Ji quickly searched through his memories, trying to find an answer from the books he had read.

Wait, this was alum!

Some books on military intelligence had mentioned that alum was one of the main materials used in writing secret messages. Words written with alum solution would disappear when dry. This espionage technique originated in the 13th century and became frequently used by spies during the First and Second World Wars.

Certainty dawned on Chen Ji. He had found his answer. The Jing Dynasty spies were using alum to write secret messages. Zhou Chengyi had hidden it amongst the salt, keeping it close at hand, suggesting frequent communication. Therefore, there must be secret correspondence hidden somewhere in the house.

He immediately retrieved a vinegar jar from the kitchen and returned to the study. He laid out sheets of white scrolls on the table, tore a piece of cloth from his clothes, dipped it in vinegar, and gently rubbed every part of the paper.

He meticulously treated five or six scrolls, but found nothing. Time was slipping away. Despite the cool autumn air, beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

He turned to look at Zhou Chengyi, whose expression remained calm, showing no signs of panic.

Had he guessed wrong?

No, he couldn’t be wrong!

A gust of wind rustled the leaves of the paulownia tree, sending a shower of withered leaves fluttering to the ground. Yun Yang smiled. “It seems your luck has truly run out.”

“I found it!” Chen Ji exclaimed.

“Hmm?” Yun Yang’s attention was drawn to him.

When Chen Ji wiped the twelfth sheet of scrolls, a line of red characters appeared where the pale yellow vinegar had been applied.

“Li’s Sweet Water Shop in Lijing Alley in the east of the city. Seek refuge there in times of danger.”

Seeing these words, Yun Yang’s eyes instantly lit up. “The Jing Dynasty spies have established a new base. Perhaps a high-ranking official from the Jing military intelligence has come to Luo City!”

He turned to Jiao Tu. “This is a major breakthrough!”

Jiao Tu thought for a moment. “Let’s kill this boy and take all the credit.”

“No, I promised not to kill him. Besides, he’s not one of us. The credit will be ours regardless.”

“Fine…”

Meanwhile, Zhou Chengyi’s face had turned ashen.

Discarding his disguise, he drew a concealed hidden soft sword from his belt and lunged at Chen Ji, determined to kill him at any cost.

With astonishing speed, the Jing Dynasty’s spy shed his previous air of defeat, transforming into a ferocious beast.

Chen Ji retreated rapidly, while Jiao Tu suddenly flashed forward like a shadow, moving gracefully as a butterfly.

Their figures blurred as they clashed. With a flick of her wrist, Jiao Tu’s silver needle, held delicately between two fingers, pierced Zhou Chengyi’s side.

With a thud, Zhou Chengyi lost all strength and fell to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

At that moment, a cold current surged out from Zhou Chengyi’s body—like a flowing, grayish-white dragon in the night—and entered Chen Ji’s body.

It was a sensation unlike anything he had ever experienced in his seventeen years of life. The icy current was like glacier water from a snow-capped mountain, pure and clear, invigorating.

Where did this cold sensation come from? Why did it appear? Chen Ji didn’t know.

The scenes he had witnessed tonight were the kind that usually only appeared in movies. This world was completely different from the one he knew!

Chen Ji observed Jiao Tu and Yun Yang, noticing that neither seemed to have seen what had just happened. Was he the only one who could see it?

Seeing that Zhou Chengyi was no longer a threat, Yun Yang turned to Chen Ji with curiosity in his eyes. “How does an apprentice from a medical hall know such things?”

Chen Ji explained, “Alum has medicinal uses. It can stop bleeding, treat ulcers, and relieve pain. That’s how I’m familiar with it.”

“Oh?” Yun Yang took a pinch of alum from the jar and put it in his mouth. “Perfect timing—I’ve been having some inflammation and mouth ulcers lately.”

Jiaotu stood firmly on Zhou Chengyi’s back. “What are you dawdling for? First, dispatch men to Lijing Alley and take down that Li Family Sweet Water Shop.”

At her command eight black-clad men who had been standing by mounted horses and galloped toward Lijing Alley.

The crisp sound of hooves on the midnight bluestone path tore through the night’s tranquility.

Chen Ji asked, “Can I leave now?”

“Um… I’m afraid not,” Yun Yang shook his head.

“Going back on your word?”

“Not exactly. I only said you could live, but I never said I’d let you go,” Yun Yang dusted off his clothes. “I need to take you to the inner prison for a thorough interrogation.”

“Interrogate me about what?”

“For instance, why would an apprentice from Prince Jing’s medical hall appear at Zhou Chengyi’s residence in the middle of the night? Is Prince Jing already colluding with the northern Jing Dynasty through Zhou Chengyi, intending to use the Jing Dynasty’s power to commit treason?” Yun Yang spread his hands. “See? I have many questions for you.”

Jiao Tu chimed in, “Zhou Chengyi is just a minor county magistrate. But if you can implicate Prince Jing, we’ll reward you with riches and honor!”

Chen Ji silently lamented how complex his situation had become.

Where was the Jing Dynasty? Who was Prince Jing? Were the deceased’s social connections really this complicated?

“I was delivering medicine,” he answered. “I was caught in the crossfire.”

Chen Ji answered this way because he had also seen two packages labeled “Taiping Medical Hall” in the kitchen. They were wrapped in yellow paper and placed beside the sand pot stove, still unopened.

Yun Yang shook his head. “That’s just your side of the story. I only trust answers obtained through my own interrogation.”

Chen Ji changed tactics. “You want to capture that high-ranking Jing military intelligence officer, don’t you?”

“We’ve already sent men to do just that.”

“You won’t find him at the sweet water shop in Lijing Alley. That place is clearly just a safe house for Zhou Chengyi’s escape. No important figure would be there.”

Yun Yang’s expression turned thoughtful. “Do you have another lead?”

Chen Ji remained silent.

Yun Yang stepped closer, holding the thin silver needle between his index and middle fingers. He lightly tapped Chen Ji’s shoulder socket.

A searing pain shot through Chen Ji’s body. Within moments, his clothes were soaked with sweat. But the pain subsided as quickly as it had come, vanishing without a trace, as if it had been a mere illusion.

Yun Yang said casually, “I have many more methods like that. In all my years, only a handful of people have withstood three of my needles.”

Still, Chen Ji remained silent.

Yun Yang jabbed another needle into the back of Chen Ji’s hand. The youth’s body trembled uncontrollably, but he didn’t make a sound.

Two more needles followed, but Chen Ji still said nothing.

“You can withstand even this?” Yun Yang marveled.

In the next second, Chen Ji flipped open his hand, revealing a shard of porcelain. His trembling hand moved towards his own neck, aiming for the carotid artery!

He had been concealing the shard in his palm all along.

The porcelain shard stopped abruptly just before reaching his neck. Yun Yang had grabbed Chen Ji’s wrist. “Trying to force my hand by threatening suicide?”

“Enough, we’re wasting time and might miss our big achievement,” Jiao Tu raised three fingers. “I swear by my mother’s honor, if you provide information to help us succeed, I’ll set you free.”

Yun Yang also raised three fingers. “I swear by my parents’ honor as well. If I lie, may they forever fall into the endless abyss.”

Chen Ji remained silent, pondering the weight of their oaths.

People of this era were likely superstitious, so oaths carried significant weight… but no, he still couldn’t trust them.

Yet if he demonstrated enough capability, making himself useful enough, could he gamble on their word?

With a ragged voice, he spoke,

Finally, breathing heavily, he said. “The scrolls must have been inscribed with alum water before it was purchased, likely written by the Jing Dynasty official you mentioned. So instead of going to Lijing Alley, you should find the shop that sold the scrolls. That shop is the real channel for the most important intelligence.”